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Pete & The Pirates: Little Death

26th February 2008 | by Aidan Williamson

Had Interpol overlooked the Joy Division vinyl during their teens and instead opted for The Fall, this would be a complete rip-off of Interpol.

It's a small world in post-punk, yet Pete & The Pirates have carved themselves a picturesque niche from which to view it. Songs concern themselves not with indie clamour and self-aggrandising, instead they are the little boy, snuggled up in bed with his lady love, reminiscing about the wonder of the night before and the inherent beauty in the world, albeit a little hungover perhaps.

As the drift into slumber continues, the guitars take on the character of steam train wheel braces, constantly chugging up and down, stabbing out angular two-string chords. Do the wheels drive the braces, or do the braces drive the wheels. Known to an engineer perhaps, but your average hoverboard riding trainspotter will be content to simply stare as they blur into one restful, yet flurried motion.

Coupled with the oddly melancholic vocals of singer Tommy Sanders, there is a nice juxtaposition between the hurried pace of the Pirates and the undertone sobriety of their captain. Best exemplified by songs such as “Eyes Like Tar” and “Song For Today”, the pairing of disparate elements lands them firmly in unexplored waters. We would like to take this opportunity to assure you that this marks the only nautical reference of the review, there will be no last minute pun upon its conclusion wherein we guffaw and say “we lied”, there will also be no mention of how 'disparate' sounds like 'this parrot'. You have been warned.

There are constant flashes to their contemporaries throughout “Little Death”. Bloc Party tentatively raise their heads, on the song “Dry Wings”, we are given the closest thing to a British Arcade Fire and things take a turn for the Super Furry Animal on finale “Bright Lights”. Those are the good instances, troublingly, proceedings veer dangerous close to Brat Pack terrain on “Mr. Understanding”, the single repetitive riff, the constant gang vocalisation, the postured vocal style, but before you can say Kaiser Chi..., the song is dust in the wind.

Equipped with their laid back, easy eye and fast-paced relentless assault of perky punk contrasted with the downtrodden and fragile harmonies of “Humming” these are some pirates that you definitely wouldn't mind violating your copyright.